Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin advances to the WTA tournament final in Tokyo

Sofia Kenin of the United States plays against Britain’s Katie Boulter during the semifinal match of the Pan Pacific Open women’s tennis tournament in Tokyo on Oct. 26, 2024. (AP)

• American Sofia Kenin won the Australian Open in 2020 and was a French Open finalist the same year

TOKYO: Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has advanced to the final of the Pan Pacific Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over ninth-seeded Katie Boulter on Saturday.
Kenin, who won the Australian Open in 2020 and was a French Open finalist the same year, broke the British player’s serve in the seventh game of the second set and the American served out to win the match for her best tournament performance of the season.
Later, No. 1 seed and Paris Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen was scheduled to play Diana Shnaider for a place in Sunday’s final against Kenin.
The 25-year-old Kenin was ranked as high as No. 4 early in 2020, but a series of injuries, including ankle and quadricep ailments, has seen her WTA ranking drop to its current 155.
Boulter, ranked 33rd, had not lost a set during the Tokyo hard-court tournament.
Kenin beat Boulter in the only other time they have played but it was when Boulter retired with an injury in the second set while trailing 4-1 to Kenin after losing the first set in Acapulco in 2019.
Boulter beat 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu on Friday in the quarterfinals.